During a recent rehearsal in her Algiers Point kitchen, Theresa Andersson grew frustrated with an underachieving drummer's wobbly time-keeping.

But she couldn't fire the drummer. The drummer is also the guitarist, violinist, singer, songwriter and star of her show.

Since the summer of 2007, Andersson has performed primarily as a one-woman band. Armed with a battery of effects pedals triggered with her bare feet, she plays, records and "loops" individual parts, building full arrangements. A no-frills video of Andersson performing "Na Na Na" alone in her kitchen has logged 765,000 views on YouTube.

She's taken the show all over the globe to promote "Hummingbird, Go!, " her current release on Basin Street Records. For two increasingly rare hometown appearances, she's at Le Chat Noir for a sold-out gig Tuesday, Dec. 16, then returns to the venue Dec. 23.

A meager budget for a 2007 summer tour of Europe necessitated Andersson leaving her band behind. "And since I'm not a guitar player first, " she said, "I thought it would be boring to listen to me play guitar and sing my songs."

So she began the painstaking process of teaching herself parts for each instrument and the choreography required to assemble a sonic collage onstage. Her gear now includes two loop pedals and a bare-bones drum kit.

"I'm more patient with the whole process, but it definitely is a process. It's like peeling an onion. You've got to get through all the layers, and you cry a lot."

Response to her new approach has been mostly, but not entirely, positive. When they learned that Andersson intended to perform solo, producers of the Gretna Heritage Festival canceled her scheduled appearance this fall.

"I totally respect their decision and their thoughts about what their festival needs, " she said. "It's part of making artistic decisions. Some people will like it, some won't, and that's all right. People outside of New Orleans don't know me -- they think this is what I've always done."

It isn't. She initially left her native Sweden in the early 1990s to join then-boyfriend Anders Osborne in New Orleans. After a jazz-centric debut, "Vibes, " she has mostly stuck to Americana-style pop-rock.

"Hummingbird, Go!" sparkles with an ethereal, Nordic indie pop sheen, Andersson's voice soaring overhead. She considers the sound more of "an arrival than a departure. I wanted to clear my head of any ideas of having to please this or that crowd. The only person I wanted to please was myself, so that made it real simple."

Photo by Miranda Penn Turin"It's so much fun when you go into a new town and feel the show connect with people," Theresa Andersson says of her one-woman show. "It's worth it when you get that in return for all the hard work."

She didn't intend to play all instruments on the album herself until producer Tobias Froberg insisted. She also didn't plan to use loops of sound, until she started experimenting. "Birds Fly Away" contains a looped sample of drummer Smokey Johnson's rhythm from "I Can't Help It."

After completing the music, she solicited lyrics. Froberg penned words for five cuts, including "Na Na Na." Five others feature lyrics by Jessica Faust, a local poet and professor at Louisiana State University.

Writing lyrics "is not my strength, " Andersson said. "I was digging in pretty deep with all the music, and I didn't have much time, so I thought why not let somebody else write that's really good and has a passion for it?"

Faust's poetry "made me cry, " Andersson said. "It was so emotional and exactly the style of writing I was looking for. We're two women with similar experiences living in New Orleans."

The result is the boldest, most original and most warmly received album of Andersson's eclectic career. It has opened previously inaccessible doors.

A member of the "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" staff happened upon an Andersson gig at a basement club in Nashville, Tenn. Days later, she was booked for "Late Night" on Feb. 4. She has appeared on national TV in Scandinavia, "but this, " she noted, "is a little bigger."

After former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne heard "Hummingbird, Go!, " he invited Andersson to sing on his latest project, a song cycle based on the life of former Philippines power broker and noted shoe collector Imelda Marcos. Other guests include Tori Amos and Natalie Merchant. Andersson recorded her part in New York two weeks ago.

"At Jazzfest this year, I did a cover of the Talking Heads' 'Crosseyed and Painless, ' " she said. "It's interesting that this came down a few months later."

"Birds Fly Away, " the third track on "Hummingbird, Go!, " was recently named the song of the day on National Public Radio. It was also selected for "Have You Heard, " a compilation available in Starbucks outlets starting Jan. 4.

All are deeply satisfying developments.

"It's very exciting, " she said. "It's really hard work. But it's so much fun when you go into a new town and feel the show connect with people. It's worth it when you get that in return for all the hard work."

THERESA ANDERSSON

What: The singer and multi-instrumentalist performs her one-woman show.

When: Dec. 16 and Dec. 23, 8 p.m.

Where: Le Chat Noir, 715 St. Charles Ave., 504.581.5812.

Tickets: $15 (Dec 16 is sold out).

What else: Andersson performs at St. Louis Cathedral on Dec. 22 with John Fohl and David Doucet.